Try A Little Tenderness – The Commitments

Having never heard of The Commitments I was intrigued when my mother in law mentioned she wanted to head to the theatre to watch the stage version of the film, that was released in 1991. At the time, Mother’s day was just around the corner and I had been at a loss for ideas of what to get both my mum and my mother in law, so a trip to the theatre would be perfect.

In preparation to see the musical, I watched the original film and I was hooked. A story about The Commitments bringing soul to Dublin in the late 80’s, I just couldn’t get enough of the Irish accent or the singing. The musical had a lot to live up to!

Between purchasing the tickets and actually watching the show I had seen so many adverts and I was looking forward to a night of singing and dancing in the aisles, as well as spending a lovely evening with my mum and mother in law.

The show started off slightly differently to the film but everything else was near enough identical. My mum who hasn’t seen the film was able to keep up with exactly what was going on, proving you don’t need to watch the film first! We were sat towards the back of the theatre so lots of dancing in seats was happening…apart from the crowd people in front of us.

The show itself was absolutely amazing however the crowd was less than enthusiastic, I was expecting lots of dancing and bopping heads but there was nothing. Not until the very end when ‘Jimmy Rabbit’ reappeared on stage asking if we wanted an encore. Due to the lack of noise and cheering from the crowd we were told we were shite and brutal! Finally, the crowd were riled up and mostly stood up and danced for the remaining songs.

I am not sure if any of the cast were actually Irish but the accents were so good as well as the singing. The only thing I missed from the film was Jimmy’s interviews with himself in mirrors!

If I could go and watch this again I definitely would…but I’d hope for a livelier crowd!!

Next theatre trip, Sister Act in July!

(All images from The Commitments website due to no photography being allowed at the theatre!)